The National Blood Transfusion Service (NTBS) has felicitated the Brandix Group for the donation by its employees of 3,321 units of blood in 2014, the largest donation by a single corporate entity in the country in the year.

This is the fifth year in succession that Brandix, Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter, has been acknowledged as the largest donor of blood among private sector organisations that donate annually to the NTBS.

Brandix began an organised blood collection drive across the Group’s manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka in 2007. The Group works with the NTBS to conduct blood collection drives at its factories from September to December every year. Donation of blood by associates employed in these factories is completely voluntary, and the donations are non-remunerative.

In 2014, the largest contributors to the Brandix blood donation campaign were Brandix Apparel Solutions Limited (BASL) - Lingerie, Wathupitiwala with 350 units, BASL - Casualwear, Ratmalana with 321 pints and BASL - Intimate Apparel, Polonnaruwa with 302. In all, 25 business units of the Group in Sri Lanka participated in the campaign.

“The response to our annual blood donation programme reflects the culture of civic consciousness and social responsibility that we strive to create and maintain across all business units of the Group,” said Ishan Dantanarayana, Chief People Officer of the Brandix Group. “Whilst all who wish to donate do not meet the qualifying criterion of the NTBS, having 3,000 plus donors and their enthusiasm is inspiring.”

According to the NTBS, donations of this scale over a significant time period are necessary to meet the organisation’s requirements. By being geographically widespread, the Brandix campaign increases supplies of blood in many areas, including those that do not usually receive donations of significant volume compared with areas like Colombo. Brandix’s blood donation campaigns are also extra significant as they are conducted on weekdays instead of the general norm of weekends. This is particularly helpful in sustaining blood platelets, which have a lifespan of five days, for use during the course of the week.

The entirety of the 380,000 pints collected by the NTBS annually comes from voluntary non-remunerated donations.

One of the largest suppliers of apparel to top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix employs more than 47,000 associates across several integrated manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka, and large operations in India and Bangladesh.